It took five years for the six Spaniards from sunny Barcelona to record a new album. Their successful debut «Northland» was released in 2010, after which there was a long period of radio silence, during which nothing was heard from the band. Now the folk death metal band «Northland» has released their second album «Downfall and Rebirth» and this album proves from the first to the last song that good folk metal doesn't just have to come from the far north. The Catalonian present good metal riffs, a clean, well-structured production and high-quality content, far from cheap clichés. Fans of good melodic folk metal should definitely perk up their ears here!

In 2004, some dark souls got together in Barcelona, ​​Spain, and the Viking Folk Metal horde «Northland» was formed. Unfortunately, since not all of those involved at the start brought similarly great passions for this metier, band founder, guitarist and lead vocalist Pau Murillo had his hands full to keep the heathen bunch alive. The latter succeeded the outspoken idealist despite all the unusually fast rotations of the casting carousel. In 2010, "Northland" presented their self-titled debut album, which made it clear that the Spaniards are in no way inferior to their Scandinavian colleagues. Five years later, the Spanish top experts want to do it again. And the chances of success on a broad scale are extremely good with «Downfall And Rebirth». The album, as the name suggests, deals with the eternal cycle of life, mother nature and its often-challenged civilization.

The Iberians are releasing the new and second album "Downfall and Rebirth" with the front cover by Sallai Péter, which is well worth seeing. "Downfall and Rebirth" sounds more mature and playful than its predecessor. They experimented with many instruments and completely abandoned the fear of long quiet passages. The listener can expect a well-mixed folk metal album that brings a breath of fresh air into the action. So the second album offers a death metal sound that is swinging but also very melodic at the same time. It never gets really hard, thanks to the high importance of the folklore part as well as the numerous interjections of clean vocals. Although the growl vocals are always in the foreground, the clear vocals often also come to the fore, which sometimes comes in polyphony and gives the album a hymn-like note.

Northland-Downfall and rebirth

The album begins dreamily with «When Nature Awakes», before Pau Murillo breaks through the idyll with his scream and Vásquez takes over the scepter, which dampens the resulting force a bit. If the predecessor got along almost without cleanly sung passages, these make up a good quarter of the new material. The first four tracks “When Nature Awakes”, “Bloodred Sunrise”, “Together we Die” and the instrumental “The Rite” immediately captivate you. «Fury's Unleashed» blasts off with a snappy melodeath riff before a wonderfully brute verse (without any folk) turns into an overly melodic power metal refrain. Only then does a folk break follow and the somewhat heavier, slower second verse gives the song a pleasant diversity. "Duskriders" goes one better, which with its complexity, dynamics, drama and melody represents a perfect blend. The title track is on the same level, but much darker and more depressing.

When listening to this album, I am reminded again and again of «Ensiferum», on the one hand musical in certain passages, on the other hand the deep voice of Pau Murillo sounds confusingly similar to that of Petri Lindroos. The sound of the Hispanic Vikings is somewhere between "Ensiferum" and "Eluveitie" and shows the great talent behind "Northland" and hopefully will be further developed on the next works. It may be that many well-known trademarks are presented here and there, but only very few artists are capable of aligning the self-relationship in this way. The violin by Pau Vázquez is primarily responsible for the folklore part. This is almost constantly present and actively carries the melodies. The folklore is very present in the sound of «Northland» and by no means only takes place in the background. Also, the Catalonian hardly use the keyboard, it only serves as an atmospheric paint from time to time in the background. Towards the end there is one more highlight: «Moonlight Spell», a folk ballad with an enchanting female voice and occasional support from male clean singing.

Northland - Downfall and Rebirth (Full Album)

"Downfall And Rebirth" is differentiated and varied. Every song is successful, even if not all of them reach quality peaks like "Fury's Unleashed", "Duskfall" or "Downfall And Rebirth". The band's sound is very refreshing and after such a long break due to the drummer's motorcycle accident, «Northland» has managed to produce a really great record all round. In addition to the violin, which, as mentioned, bears the brunt of the folk part, other instruments also come into play and in addition to the flute and acoustic guitar, you can also come across an accordion and even a Jew's harp. This variety is one of the big plus points of the album and "Downfall and Rebirth" is very versatile. In addition to the numerous instruments, the playing speed and mood are often varied and "Northland" can also convince with their good playing skills and clean melodies. This is how authentic as well as rousing and stirring Viking Folk Metal compositions are created, which one can only rarely enjoy in this naturalness and genuineness. Pagan and Folk Metal fans should definitely get something new for their collection, because the Spaniards use the elements very well and always parry with harsh threads, so that it doesn't sound too dull. Definitely a must for fans of «Ensiferum», «Eluveitie» and melodic power metal!

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Tracklist:

1. When Nature Awakens
2. Bloodred Sunrise
3. Together We Die
4. The Rite
5. Fury's Unleashed
6. Duskriders
7. Spirit in Darkness
8. Whispers in the Wind
9. Downfall and Rebirth
10. Moonlight spell
11. Newborn star

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